The first trailer for Miss Bala is here. Sony has been developing this remake of the 2011 Mexican drug cartel movie of the same name for some time. Though, they appear to be taking a pretty different approach. In any case, we get to see Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez in an entirely different light, as the actress is turned into an avenging action hero.

Things start out well enough, as they often do in these kinds of movies, with Gina Rodriguez and a friend of hers enjoying a night out at a club. Drinks, dancing and the usual fun. But when the club is shot up by cartel members, things take a turn for the worst. Rodriguez ends up having to do favors for the cartel in order to save her friend which, in turn, puts her in the crosshairs of authorities as well. The whole thing gets complicated and very explosion-filled from there on out. Rodriguez gets to sneak in a really badass line with, "In the end, the bullet settles everything."

Hollywood taking foreign movies and remaking them for American audiences is nothing new. The original Miss Bala was a very gritty, ugly look at the drug war and centered on a beauty queen being taken in by the cartel. It appears as though the remake is taking some serious liberties in order to make this movie more appealing for a wider audience. Gina Rodriguez revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, to coincide with the trailer debut, that they are trying to accomplish something specific and, despite the changes, this serves as a major showcase of diversity.

"It's a reconceptualizing of the original film, and it's more modern. [Gloria is] someone that's actively trying to save herself and her family. I think that's really amazing because a lot of the women in my life, they actively work toward keeping their families safe, and they actively try to fix situations. There's no woman I know in my life that just sits back. Women aren't necessarily always portrayed as proactively trying to save ourselves in action films. It's very empowering to see those stories because I know that's what the women in my life do."

It's not often that female directors get to make big-budget studio action movies. It's even less often that those movies will feature such a diverse cast, in this case, primarily Latino. And though the changes may seem significant, the fact of the matter is that most American moviegoers won't be familiar with the original in the first place.

Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) is in the director's chair working with a cast that also includes Anthony Mackie and Matt Lauria. In addition to the trailer, the studio has also released a brand new poster for the movie, which you can also check out below. Be sure to check out the first trailer for Miss Bala, which arrives in theaters on February 1, 2019, from the Sony Pictures Entertainment YouTube channel, for yourself below.

Miss Bala poster